


Thoughts

by ThisIsArt (ToHoldForever)



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akira is OK with that sometimes, Best Friends, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humor, M/M, Oblivious, Phantom Thieves are best wingmen and women, Pining, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Yusuke is dense asf, and sometimes he's not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 16:58:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12821976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToHoldForever/pseuds/ThisIsArt
Summary: Sometimes, just sometimes, Akira thinks of Yusuke.





	Thoughts

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy reading... Ah, I have some notes at the end, but I rather not keep anyone waiting? 
> 
> P.S. I'm writing general and teen lately, even though I'm not an innocent one by all means... I'm having a major morality crisis.

Sometimes, just sometimes, Akira thinks of Yusuke.

No, not in a weird way — that would only serve to embarrass him and consequently render him unable to meet the artist eye-to-eye for a week. No, that’s not it. It’s less than that. More than that. He thinks of the artist in his best and worst times, and he’s sure he has seen him in both. The betrayal that lingered in his eyes when they ventured through Madarame’s palace — his long-time mentor — even when he had finally confronted him. Akira wonders if he had ever completely gotten over him. He suspects one never gets over anything completely.

Yet, he sees when he’s at his happiest moments. Akira knows it. The same eyes which held betrayal and negative, intense emotions had been replaced with mirth, of joy, and appreciation of his newfound friends, the Phantom Thieves. The group of outcasts who find themselves fitting in with each other instead. It’s one bizarre group, he admits, but he wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world. For the reason he loves his friends dearly, and another to never take Yusuke’s source of joy away.

Sometimes, just sometimes, Akira thinks of Yusuke.

Yes, Yusuke is certainly a looker. A tall and slim figure bordering on lanky, yet not so much, silk hair, and a certain gaze. However, looks can only inspire the first glance, and Akira is sure he doesn’t only give him one. There’s the strange charm he has in his eccentricity, which offers constant surprises and interesting scenarios, and Yusuke never becomes dull. It’s also amusing to look at his reactions, too; the dry humor, the overly-serious and thoughtful answers to teasing, his obvious adoration for beauty and art as well as his honesty and care for his friends.

Well, not to say he’s a perfect human being — he’s naive regarding socialization, he doesn’t get along with Futaba as much as he should, he’s blunt and he’s dense, and so very sporadic that it may cause trouble. Love is blind, though. Akira thinks he’s perfect.

Yes, just sometimes, Akira thinks of Yusuke.

He thinks he’s one of the greatest friends he ever has, but then again, everybody in the Phantom Thieves is one of his friends. The difference was, Yusuke is particularly close with Akira than he is with anyone else. He doesn’t often pull someone other than him to pursue his artistic endeavors, or to assist him with a task he simply cannot do. He isn’t as open to anyone as he is to him, and it makes Akira think that maybe he is a special friend in his heart.

Yes, he is a good friend. He offers interesting adventures and intellectual insights for conversations, he may regale you with his knowledge about art and can keep you entertained with many schemas. Yusuke has satisfying reactions which often arise others’, and can behave unpredictably. It’s a bizarrity to many people. Not to Akira. It’s endearing.

Akira thinks of Yusuke.

Sometimes, he looks at him for more than a few moments, Akira does; he is almost afraid at how much overwhelming affection and fondness is pooling into his stomach whenever he watches him, and he doesn’t know why it happens. He doesn’t know what makes Yusuke unique. All his friends were different in their own way. However, he finds himself staring at the artist anyway.

He can sit with him doing nothing but watch him talk about strokes or the Fibonacci spiral, crosshatches and techniques and the different kinds of brushes. He can talk to him about how to dismember a body, and Akira would still like to hear his voice. The thought was absolutely horrifying.

It’s terrible his friends know Akira thinks of Yusuke.

Sometimes Ryuji is afraid to bring up the topic, because he might offend him by assuming what he doesn’t know. Ann knows everything because she’s a hawk. Futaba is smug. Morgana could really care less, but he’s a wingman, anyway. Haru is a shipper, Makoto is a mother, and everybody is unbearable.  _ Unbearable. _

Morgana likes to point out he has terrible taste. Ryuji doesn’t have the heart to say it out loud. Ann is supportive. Haru is omniscient. Futaba is, too, in her own techy way. Makoto just sits by the sidelines and looks knowing, and everybody is torn to parts that Yusuke doesn’t know the blatant signs. Sometimes, he feels like his friends are more tortured about his denseness than Akira is himself.

It’s wonderful his friends know Akira thinks of Yusuke.

They’re are all his assistants, his very skillful and tact wingmen and women who try to give Akira chances. Yusuke is totally oblivious. Akira is presented with many opportunities. Many times he is able to grab some free time with just the two of them together. The group looks on, some with reluctant acceptance, others pure smugness.

And then there is that golden opportunity and tension arises. What could the next scenario be? The Freudian slip? Accidental touch of lips? The passionate speech and the gazing into their eyes? The friends lean in, some covering the eyes in the process and others blinking to save as much photos in their brain cameras.

It’s a good thing and a bad thing the target doesn’t know Akira thinks of Yusuke all the time.

And then the artist strikes again. Deflected, like Akira’s whole life is a rom-com about how he tries to get the artist and they end up in cliche moments — and it all comes crumbling down like a chapter of Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun.

Yusuke has the almighty abilities to deflect whatever flirt flings at him, or what opportunity Akira gives and even blatant confessions. He can turn them upside down so it all means a platonic thing, or it becomes a joke and Akira dies inside as he laughs with him, or something interrupts them. Why does the universe hate Akira so much?

Does Yusuke think of Akira?

That’s what keeps him awake at night. The pain in his chest when he learns that maybe he doesn’t think of him at all. Maybe when he sees him, sure, or when he drags him out to chase beauty. Heck, he might be asexual or invent an orientation towards art. Ghastly.

What if the truth gets out and Yusuke doesn’t want to see him again? Oh cheese on crackers, what happens if he endangers their friendship? Maybe they wouldn’t be able to stay the same again, with what everything he just confessed to him. Or Yusuke would be disgusted and walk away from his life and he would never see him again. It would break his heart and his friends are right beside him to help him pick it up so he doesn’t cut himself while doing it.

_ What _ does Yusuke think of Akira?

He’s probably thinking that Akira is a nice guy but he doesn’t know him that well. Or maybe that he’s a friend but he doesn’t really hold him in high regards. The confidant was a lie, maybe. Perhaps Yusuke sees him the same way as any of his other friends, and that’s not such a bad thing in itself, but that means Akira isn’t so different, isn’t so prominent from everyone else in his eyes.

There’s also the possibility he’s just putting up with him, obligated to pay him back after helping him with Madarame. Yusuke is an honorable man, he would do that even against his free will. He would pay someone back. Maybe he loathes Akira but he has to tolerate him until he spends enough time with him and leaves him. Akira tries not to think about it.

But Akira can’t stop thinking about Yusuke.

Okay, so he doesn’t  _ always  _ think of him, but Yusuke is always somewhere on the back of Akira’s mind, whether it be in exams, or undergoing battles in palaces. He’s there, a non-intrusive thought that is present in his head, whether he likes it or not. Yusuke takes up space in his mind as well as in his heart.

Even when he’s out with others. Maybe if he’s sitting with Chihaya having his fortune read, he’d keep an eye out for cards regarding the artist. Or when Goro was around, he would have coffee in his hand, talking to him, but Yusuke is still resonating in his head. When Sojiro teaches him coffee, Yusuke. Eating ramen with Ryuji, Yusuke. It’s utterly and completely ridiculous, but he’s still there, anyway.

He gives up. Akira thinks about Yusuke, and he won’t complain.

It’s futile to battle it, anyway. It’d only add stress if he kept denying the thoughts. Why waste his efforts on an inevitability, he decided. Just let it be. It’ll flood his mind, but never suffocate or drown him, his thoughts of Yusuke.

Yet, the more he thinks about him, the more he wishes to see the blue-haired boy. The more Akira wants to see him smile, or complain about a patron on the street, or rave on about his newest work in progress. Most of all, he wants all of Yusuke’s focus on him. He doesn’t mind the others when they’re all hanging out together, and he won’t shoo them out just for it, but when he’s just with Yusuke, he knows he is thinking about him too.

Akira is going to admit he thinks about Yusuke.

Months after Shido’s downfall, his friends still talk to each other. They are all still friends. Yusuke may be from a different school than the rest, yet he is no less than anyone else in the group. Akira is evidently delighted that everyone is still here, even after everything has happened. Some might argue that it would make others compelled to come, the last reason, and he’s pleased. Really, very pleased.

And after a while, he garners courage. A shock of courage. After an enlightening conversation with mother hen Makoto, who nudges him along but doesn’t blatantly do so — she’s the master of subtlety — he has the strength to go through with his plans of speaking to Yusuke and telling him of just how much he takes up space in his heart, in his mind, and in his life.

And then, Akira admits it to Yusuke.

At first, Yusuke is confused. He asks him if something was wrong with him, and if Akira didn’t know any better, he would be offended. However, it’s a genuine question, so he becomes blunter. Still nothing works. After a few more retries, Yusuke murmurs an “oh,” and for the first time he has seen him, his cheeks are tinted red.

Akira then goes on a long speech, and Yusuke catches onto every word he says. Finally, the artist tells him he has no idea what he sees in him, and he is very flattered, but he’s not sure about how he feels, yet he wants to take the opportunity Akira gives him. For the very first time, he does.

And so, Yusuke is fine Akira thinks of him.

And Akira is fine Yusuke doesn’t know what to feel about him. It would be too good to be true, but maybe with enough encouragement and slight pushes, Yusuke would feel the same way as he does, eventually. The way he can take the edge off a bad day, or lighten the room as if the world was saturated, or how he is unforgivingly persistent in his brain — maybe he could be that for Yusuke.

Maybe, just maybe, Yusuke thinks of Akira.

**Author's Note:**

> <3 Thank you for reading! I just sort of let myself write, let my fingers guide themselves on the keyboard and the writing just... comes. I feel like I owe it to you all, after such a long, LONG break... It's only 2000 words, and I'm ashamed of myself, but I did it with love. There was minimal editing, so I apologize for the mistakes, but it's raw. 
> 
> This is for people who know me, though: I'm sorry I haven't updated any of my fanfics for a while. I hope I can satiate you by letting you know I'm not finished and very much alive, and I know there's a plethora of other works that can satisfy you. I'm having a bad case of writer's block, and in time, I plead you for forgiveness!! Don't hesitate to contact me about anything at all, though, and...
> 
> I love you all! ❤︎


End file.
